Councils in the Trough

Councils in the Trough

June 29, 2009 11:22 AM

Two stories caught my eye this morning that should send taxpayers' blood boiling.

First into the trough was Kent County Council who pushed up their allowances by a shocking 8% last week! The opposition, to their credit, tried to delay the increase by proposing a public consultation. As the ruling party controls 74 of the 84 seats, quite unsurprisingly, this was defeated and the pay hike voted through. Always good with other people’s cash (remember Kent lost a fortune in Iceland), perhaps it’s worth asking KCC leader Cllr. Paul Carter what he was thinking to propose a substantial pay increase in a recession. He can be contacted here: paul.carter@kent.gov.uk

Believing the above was a one-off, you can imagine my shock at seeing another council attempt to push through another pay increase as one of its first actions after June’s elections. The Lancashire Evening Post reports that Lancashire County Council was working to increase its pay on their first day in power. Adding insult to injury, the council amended an Independent Remuneration Panel report to recommend itself a higher salary. Please do contact Cllr. Geoff Driver, leader of the council, to ask him why one of his first acts as leader was to increase councillors’ pay above an independent recommendation. He can be contacted here: geoff.driver@lancashire.gov.uk

As always please be polite but do hold these troughing politicians to account.

Two stories caught my eye this morning that should send taxpayers' blood boiling.

First into the trough was Kent County Council who pushed up their allowances by a shocking 8% last week! The opposition, to their credit, tried to delay the increase by proposing a public consultation. As the ruling party controls 74 of the 84 seats, quite unsurprisingly, this was defeated and the pay hike voted through. Always good with other people’s cash (remember Kent lost a fortune in Iceland), perhaps it’s worth asking KCC leader Cllr. Paul Carter what he was thinking to propose a substantial pay increase in a recession. He can be contacted here: paul.carter@kent.gov.uk

Believing the above was a one-off, you can imagine my shock at seeing another council attempt to push through another pay increase as one of its first actions after June’s elections. The Lancashire Evening Post reports that Lancashire County Council was working to increase its pay on their first day in power. Adding insult to injury, the council amended an Independent Remuneration Panel report to recommend itself a higher salary. Please do contact Cllr. Geoff Driver, leader of the council, to ask him why one of his first acts as leader was to increase councillors’ pay above an independent recommendation. He can be contacted here: geoff.driver@lancashire.gov.uk

As always please be polite but do hold these troughing politicians to account.

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